Liang Zhiren, Director of the Hong Kong Office in Beijing: Facing downward pressure, we must seize opportunities in the mainland service industry

China News Agency, Beijing, April 10 Question: Liang Zhiren, Director of the Hong Kong Office in Beijing: Facing downward pressure, we must seize opportunities in the mainland service industry

Author Chen Xiaoyuan Li Xuefeng

"Due to the impact of the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic, Hong Kong's economy will face great downward pressure and will need to rely on the mainland market." Liang Zhiren, director of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Office in Beijing, said in an exclusive interview with a reporter from China News Service that the Mainland's service industry has The degree of openness is getting higher and higher, and Hong Kong people must seize the relevant opportunities.

"Due to the impact of the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic, Hong Kong's economy will face great downward pressure and will need to rely on the mainland market." Liang Zhiren, director of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Office in Beijing, said in an exclusive interview with a reporter from China News Service that the Mainland's service industry has The degree of openness is getting higher and higher, and Hong Kong people must seize the relevant opportunities. China News Agency reporter Cui Nanshe

Liang Zhiren has been in the Hong Kong civil service system for more than 30 years. Before coming to Beijing in 2019, he served as the Deputy Secretary-General of the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government, the Administrative Director of the Hong Kong Insurance Regulatory Authority, and was stationed in Geneva, Switzerland to participate in the World Trade Organization Working for more than 5 years, he is well versed in economic and trade affairs.

Liang Zhiren continued to pay attention to the impact of the epidemic on current economic development. He introduced that there are currently more than 16,000 Hong Kong-funded enterprises in Beijing, mainly in the fields of finance, law, accounting, real estate, property management and innovative technology. Due to the recent impact of the epidemic, the number of passengers in Hong Kong-funded shopping malls, restaurants, subways, airlines, etc. has decreased significantly.

As an important bridge for communication between Hong Kong and the mainland, the Hong Kong Office in Beijing has links and services covering ten provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities including Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei. Liang Zhiren said that after the outbreak, the Beijing Office contacted relevant chambers of commerce and associations to understand the needs of Hong Kong people and Hong Kong enterprises and assist in responding to the outbreak.

"Due to the impact of the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic, Hong Kong's economy will face great downward pressure and will need to rely on the mainland market." Liang Zhiren, director of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Office in Beijing, said in an exclusive interview with a reporter from China News Service that the Mainland's service industry has The degree of openness is getting higher and higher, and Hong Kong people must seize the relevant opportunities. China News Agency reporter Cui Nanshe

He introduced that a Hong Kong-funded enterprise in Liaoning built a new production line for medical surgical masks, but could not obtain the raw materials of melt-blown cloth that had been regulated in the market. The Liaoning Liaison Office under the Beijing Office provided timely assistance and contacted the relevant local departments to help enterprises purchase Obtain raw materials and start production smoothly.

Liang Zhiren said that with the gradual control of the epidemic, Hong Kong-funded enterprises in Beijing are gradually resuming work and resuming production. It is estimated that the current situation is about 70% to 80%.

The daily work of the Hong Kong Office in Beijing has also been affected by the epidemic, but it has not stalled. After returning to Beijing from Hong Kong in early February, Liang Zhiren worked at home for 14 days. He said that the current work of the Beijing Office for the replacement of SAR passports is still going on as usual, but originally introduced the economic and trade information and investment in Hong Kong and other services in the form of forums, and recently changed the distribution of information by WeChat, email, and video to hold meetings.

Since June last year, Hong Kong has been affected by the revision of the regulations and the number of tourists has decreased. Liang Zhiren revealed that the Beijing Office originally planned to hold a large-scale promotion event in the middle of this year to introduce the advantages of Hong Kong's international metropolis. However, affected by the epidemic, related activities will be postponed.

In recent years, the Mainland has successively introduced measures to facilitate Hong Kong people to live, study and work in the Mainland, which has attracted the attention of Hong Kong people. Liang Zhiren said that at least 200,000 Hong Kong compatriots have applied for residence permits for Hong Kong and Macao residents in the Mainland, most of whom live in Guangdong Province, and the number of Hong Kong residents who are resident in Beijing is estimated to exceed 10,000.

Liang Zhiren believes that due to the impact of the amendments and epidemic situation, Hong Kong's economy is facing great downward pressure and needs to rely on the mainland market. The economic and trade integration between Hong Kong and the mainland is a general trend.

More than a year after the "Outline of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development Plan" was released, Liang Zhiren said that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area provides many new opportunities. Although the Beijing Office ’s scope of contact does not include Guangdong, it also cooperates with professional consulting companies to understand The latest development of the Bay Area, and introduces the economic and trade information of the Greater Bay Area to the people in Beijing and Hong Kong.

It is understood that the newly revised "Trade Arrangement between the Mainland and Hong Kong on Establishing Closer Economic and Trade Relations" will be implemented on June 1 this year, which will greatly increase the opening of the mainland service industry to Hong Kong in many fields and further reduce Hong Kong The threshold for enterprises and professionals to enter the mainland market.

In this regard, Liang Zhiren said that the mainland ’s service industry and other fields are becoming more and more open to Hong Kong. For example, professionals such as architects and structural engineers have been able to expand their practice scope to various cities in the Mainland through arrangements for mutual recognition of qualifications. It is youth who seizes opportunities.

Liang Zhiren introduced that there are about 1,800 Hong Kong students studying in Beijing universities this school year. The Beijing Office is closely connected with some university student associations and Hong Kong and Macao classmates associations, and serves Hong Kong students by organizing orientation activities and employment seminars. In recent years, more and more young people in Hong Kong have chosen to work or start a business in the Mainland after graduation. I hope that they can seize the development opportunities, especially the first-trial measures in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. (Finish)